Unleashed
by Reidluver
Summary: Ever wonder how Emily Prentiss deals with the horrors the BAU faces everyday? College students are being brutally murdered, and she must face her demons as the team tries to catch the unsub. It could be their most disturbing case yet.
1. Chapter 1: The Brain Unsub

The story begins with a red-haired girl doing homework at a library. It is dark outside and there is hardly anyone there. She rubs the sleep out of her eyes and glances at the clock across the room. Groaning, she begins to garner her many pieces of paper that are strewn about the table and places them all neatly into a binder, zips up her green backpack, and quickly strides out the door.

Once outside, she passes a sign that reads, "Haron University Parking." A few cars zoom past across the street, and crickets are heard faintly in the background. She makes her way to a light blue truck and fumbles through her purse, scrambling to find her keys; mumbling as she does so angrily.

All of the sudden a hand flies out from behind and covers her mouth with a white cloth. Terrified, she releases her purse and attempts to escape. After a couple seconds of struggling, her grip slackens and she slumps into the grip of a person obscured in the shadows, who then places his arms around her waist and drags her to a car three parking spaces to the right and tosses her into the back seat. Once the person is inside, he starts up the car and speeds off to join traffic outside the college parking lot.

* * *

_All ambitions are lawful except those that climb upward on the miseries or cruelties of mankind. Henry Ward Beecher_

* * *

The team is in the conference room, with JJ briefing them on a new case. Behind her on the screen are pictures of three girls and a map is viewed faintly in the background.

"These are the crime scene photos of two college girls, who appear to have been killed by the same unsub in Williamsport, Pennsylvania." She points to the first two pictures displayed on the screen. "Their names are Heather Garton and Sharon Karn. Police believe the next victim to be Ashley Warren," (she pointed to the last picture of a young woman with red hair), "because she was recently abducted in the college parking lot last night."

"Heather and Sharon were found in the park near the college with their shirts ripped off and a large letter F branded onto their chest—" (the focus turns to a picture of one of the girls' stomach. There is a large red and bleeding welt in the shape of an F that covers her whole chest. It changes focus on the rest of her body as JJ finishes) "-as well as the words 'Liar' and 'Cheater' on their arms. They were raped and then murdered by lethal injection."

"However, that's not the worst thing about it." JJ sighed and bit her lip, then changed the images on the screen and said slowly, "Each girl's brain was surgically removed." She hated this part of the job, having to view horrific and gory pictures of victims, and the knowledge of how disturbed the serial killers were. Lately they had seemed to get gorier and gorier.

Gideon rubbed his forehead, as if it hurt to process the information. Hotch started blinking as if his eyes were dry and pretended to be distracted by something to his right. Reid just stared at the pictures of the girls on the screen, his mouth wide open and looked to be sick. Prentiss shook her head as if to clear it and slowly put one hand to her forehead as if she had a headache. Morgan closed his eyes painfully, opened them, and glanced up sadly.

"So the unsub brands the girls, rapes them, kills them, and then takes out their brain as a consolation prize?" Morgan wonders aloud incredulously. By now he was seriously considering putting this new guy on the "Top Most Disturbing Unsub" list.

"Or, he could believe that the girls deserved to be punished and he was doing God's will," Reid began darkly, remembering his past experiences. "By branding them with the words 'Liar' and 'Cheater' and the letter 'F' he is proclaiming why he did it. The only question is, what does 'F' mean?"

"It could be his signature, letting people know that it was him," Gideon suggested softly.

"What college were the girls found near?" Prentiss inquired.

"Haron University," JJ answered.

Prentiss's eyes widened, but she didn't say anything further. It took her a second to get her expression back to normal as quickly as possible, but it warranted a furtive glance from Gideon across the room.

"Is there anything these girls could have done to provoke someone to call them a liar and cheater?" Hotch asked.

"No. All three girls were involved in the school, got good grades, and have absolutely no criminal records. From the information in their files, they are low profile," JJ announced as she held a large file in her hand.

The team was silent for a moment then Gideon ordered, "The plane will leave in half an hour for Williamsport. We'll continue debriefing there." At that everyone except Prentiss quickly left the room. When Gideon came to the door, he turned around to face Prentiss, who was slowly getting out of her chair.

"Who do you know in Williamsport?" he asked concernedly. He knew she was looking out for somebody the instant she asked what university it was, and the expression she let slip once she heard.

Prentiss looked a little started, but then said fearfully, still attempting to keep her outward emotions under control, "My younger sister goes to Haron University."


	2. Chapter 2: Arriving in Williamsport

**I need to thank my reviewers: **Mari Knickerbocker, smart suspensful chick, WinifredONiel, Deanne Stevenson, **and** sid. **I'd like to thank you all for your kind words and encouragement, seeing how this was my first story ever!**

**Quick note****: So, I know that Gideon is no longer on the show (that really bugs me by the way!) but since I started this story in March and I have plans for him, he's going to stay in the story.**

* * *

"Ashley Warren's car was found in the college parking lot with her purse on the ground, and by the fact that her contents were strewn about, it can be assumed that it was dropped, meaning that she didn't leave willingly. The librarian said she saw Ashley leave the library at 10:30pm, but that there was no one with her," JJ continued briefing on the plane.

"Were there security cameras that caught anything?" Reid asked.

"No, during the day they had experienced some technical difficulties with the connections in some areas, so the security team waited until 10pm to shut them all down for repairs."

"So the unsub must have known about the security cameras and had enough access to tamper with them," Gideon observed as he perused over the case file.

"Which means that this unsub has some prior technical knowledge," Morgan remarked.

"The only question is, how did he know that Ashley would be at the library that late at night?" Prentiss wondered aloud. "From the wounds inflicted on her, the unsub didn't murder her randomly. It was on purpose and for a specific reason."

"Which means that she must know him or he is a stalker," Hotch stated.

* * *

It was broad daylight in Williamsport, and the BAU team pulled out of two black cars in front of the local police station where they would set up. As they were walking up Gideon pulled Prentiss aside.

"If you would like, you sister is more than welcome to stay with you at night until the unsub is caught. It would also be beneficial if she could help us out by showing us around the school since she knows her way around, and it would make it easier for students to give us information when she is with us," he said softly and assuringly.

Prentiss breathed a quick sigh of relief. If her sister was in her plain sight the whole time until the unsub was identified, then she could know for sure that she'd be safe. The last thing Emily wanted was for another screw-up to happen that she could have prevented.

"That would be appreciated." She put on her case face again. "Would it be all right if I called her?"

Gideon smiled and waved his hand. "By all means."

Prentiss nodded and turned aside as she drew out her cell phone from her pocket.

Gideon faced the direction of the rest of his teammates and hurried his pace to catch up with them.

"Officer Dickerson, this is Agent Gideon, Agent Morgan, Dr. Reid, and Agent Jareau," Hotch introduced, pointing to each in turn. The tall, muscular officer shook each person's hand accordingly. His head was almost bald except for the hazel wisps of hair that formed a crown along the side of his head, and he had an exhausted expression.

"Thank you for coming," he began, voice booming, "I've never seen anything like this." He sighed and rubbed his eyes. "There have been some disturbing deaths I've seen, but never in all my 25 years of working in the force has there been a case quite like this." The officer glanced at them sadly. "What kind of person would take out another human's brains?"

"That's exactly what we're here for, and to make sure it doesn't happen again," Hotch consoled him. Then he focused his attention to the BAU. "JJ, you get the rest of the information the department has on these cases. Morgan, Gideon and I will accompany Officer Dickerson to the crime scenes, while Reid and Prentiss will go to the college campus and try to find out as much information from the students as you can."

"One of the students will also accompany you," Gideon added to Reid. With that, everyone went their separate ways.

* * *

"What student is accompanying us?" Reid asked as he and Prentiss stood outside one of the college building doors, silently observing the passing students.

"My sister," the agent replied.

"Really? I didn't know you had a sister," Reid said in surprise. "What's her name?"

Emily smiled. "Natalie. She's working on getting a degree in Forensic Science. I think my career has slightly influenced her decision, because there was no way either of us were going into politics, courtesy of my mother."

Reid nodded, knowing all too well what Prentiss thought of politics. _I think politics makes people distrustful. I think it makes them hate themselves. I think it tears families apart, and damages people, _was what she said.

"Emily!" The two agents turned towards the source of the noise and saw a girl running to them, waving as she did so. She had long brown hair with matching hazel eyes, and was dressed in tan capris with a blue jacket.

"How are you, Natalie?" Emily asked happily, giving her a warm hug once she walked up the steps to them.

"Just fine!" she replied cheerfully. Then her expression changed to one of remorse. "You're here because of the kidnappings, huh?" Emily sighed then nodded and turned to Reid.

"This is Doctor Spencer Reid," she said as she gestured to him and the two shook hands, "we're in the same unit."

"Pleased to meet you," Natalie said pleasantly. "So, am I to understand that you need me to talk to students who knew the three girls, right?" The two agents nodded.

"Perfect! I've already got your first person!"

"Who?" Reid asked, raising his eyebrow in surprise.

Natalie smiled sadly. "Me."

* * *

**Yeah, the next chapter! I hope it was to your satisfaction, and I'm sorry that it's kinda short. The next should be up soon!**


	3. Chapter 3: Gathering Information

**First off, I'd like to give a HUGE apology to everyone who's been following this story. I said in the previous chapter that this would be out in a few days, and here I am months later, finally updating. School and other obligations just crept up on me and I haven't had any time to do anything other than those things, so I've been busy. **

forget my that bad? **was the only reviewer, so this chapter is dedicated to you!!**

* * *

"So where would you like me to start?" Natalie asked solemnly. The three of them had moved inside the building and were sitting in the rec room, taking refuge in the large comfy chairs that were provided, with Natalie sitting across from Reid and Prentiss.

"How about basic activities that she was involved in. Hobbies? Any boyfriends? Arguments lately?" Reid asked.

"Hmm, well, I don't know about any arguments. Ashley is—" (Natalie gulped and bit her lip, doing her best not to cry) "W—was a real—really well liked—" she paused again. Prentiss started to stand up, but Natalie held up her hand.

"I'll be fine, Spidey," Natalie muttered.

Reid raised his eyebrows and turned to Prentiss. "Spidey?" he asked in a mocking tone.

Prentiss rolled her eyes and shrugged before glaring at Natalie who smirked.

"It's a great story Reid," Natalie informed the genius, leaning forward with excitement. "See, there was this time where—"

"Natalie!" Prentiss interrupted furiously. "Back to the case at hand."

The girl sighed. "Remind me to tell you about it sometime. Anyway, Ashley was smart, studious, took most of the advanced courses with me and she was the captain of the volleyball team. We did really well this year, qualifying for Districts and all. She doesn't have any steady boyfriends, just a couple great friends she hangs out with from time to time . . . "

* * *

"Okay, we've got a pretty nice profile," Prentiss announced as she and Reid entered their makeshift bull pen. "From what Natalie told us, Ashley was a regular A student, involved in sports and well-known, liked by almost everyone with a kind disposition."

"The crime scene was a typical one," Morgan added, leaning against a filing cabinet. "Her purse contents all over the parking lot, the car not even opened. Most likely the unsub came up from behind and grabbed her, somehow incapacitating her and dragged her to his car. Judging by the skid marks, he made a fast get-away."

"Which means that most likely the suspect was on a time schedule or was afraid of being seen by someone," Gideon suggested.

"I just talked to the officials, and they said that both Heather Garton and Sharon Karn were discovered three days after they were reportedly missing," JJ informed them, walking in and setting down some files she had received from the campus police.

"Guess it takes time for him to perform his little brain surgery," Morgan muttered darkly.

"So that means we have one day to find the killer," Hotch announced solemnly. JJ slowly nodded.

"I've done my best to not keep this publicized," JJ continued, "but news has undoubtedly spread that there are people here to investigate these murders, so there's a chance the unsub wouldn't risk disposing of the body in the same spot or at the same time."

"He's still bound to dispose of it nearby his usual dump site," Reid interjected. "It's a sort of comfort zone for him, and he will want to make sure we can see it, as a way to show how superior he is to us, being able to still discard the body without being caught."

"How far apart are the kidnappings?" Hotch inquired after a moment of reflection.

"Between the first and second, one week. Between Sharon and Ashely, three weeks, no pattern detected."

"So he's smart enough to figure out that his killings need to be sporadic, so that no one is able to predict his next move and act upon it. Who's to say he hasn't already killed Ashley?" Gideon wondered aloud.

"We've just got to make sure we find her," Prentiss announced firmly. "If he wants them to be sporadic, there's also the possibility that he will wait longer, trying to put us at unease, waiting for him to make the next move." She found herself wanting to solve this case with more speed than ever, the knowledge that her younger sister was in danger not at all a comforting thought. Emily also didn't want to see Natalie distressed over a friend's death, so they _had_ to find Ashley, they just had to!

* * *

"Please," a female voice whimpers weakly. "Just let me go and I'll make sure everything is right. I'll fix it!"

Silence, then a male voice growls, "No, you all ruined everything. Now you're gonna pay. I'll get what I want."

"I'm sorry," she pleads. She sounds as if she's struggling to decide whether or not she wants to live or give up. "I'm sorry, I'll fix it, please, please . . . PLEASE!" There is a hissing sound and her agonizing shrieks poison the air.

* * *

**All right, I'm sorry again that this chapter was so short, usually my chapters are a lot longer, however I've got a lot more to do and I want to be able to send this out on time because I made a promise, so I'm going to have to send it as is; I've still got to send five other stories. Thanks!**


	4. Chapter 4: The Differences Increase

**Hello everyone, especially **forget my name.is that bad?**! I cannot express how badly I feel for not updating in such a long time and will not bore you with excuses. I don't even think you even check up on this story anymore (and I wouldn't blame you)**

**Also I CANNOT believe that I missed the one-year anniversary of this story! I am really big on stuff like that and I guess the end of Senior year just messed everything up. To attempt to make up for this I have made this the longest chapter so far. Yay!**

**Anyway, enough of me talking. Please enjoy the chapter and accept my humblest apologies!!**

**I do have some reviewers to thank though: **MaeLace **and **forget my name.is that bad? (7). **I am sorry **forget my name.is that bad? **but I tried to search for you using the name that you thought was yours, but I was unable to find you. I just want to apologize especially to you for taking so long, and I wish that I had a way to contact you to let you know that I didn't abandon this fic, for I never will abandon any fic that I start writing. It might take a while, but I would never abandon any piece of work that I started. **

* * *

The afternoon sun was setting in a vibrant arrangement of orange, yellow, and red. The two senior agents walked through a neighborhood filled with the noise of young children doing their best to fulfill their daily quota of playtime before their mothers called them in for dinner, causing the air to be bright and cheerful.

It was a stark contrast to what Jason Gideon and Aaron Hotchner had to do.

Gideon rapped his knuckle three times on the oak door before him, which opened a few seconds latter to a grim and solemn woman whose expression froze between feigned cheeriness and puzzlement.

"Hello Mrs. Garton," Hotch began pleasantly, "We are special agents Gideon and Hotchner, and we are with the FBI."

"So you're working on the college murders," the woman said slowly, realization dawning on her face.

"Do you mind if we ask you a few questions?" Gideon said with a comforting smile, knowing how hard this was for everyone to talk about their deceased ones, especially children.

Mrs. Garton's shoulders dropped and she nodded slowly. "Come in." She brought them into the living room and sat down in a chair while the two men sat on the leather couch. As they came in Hotch noticed there was a small film of dust on some of the picture frames on the mantle above the fireplace, meaning that the family was still in the first stages of grief where things like house-keeping took second place.

"First off, can you tell us about anything strange or out of the ordinary that Heather did in the weeks leading up to her murder?" Hotch began.

The mother shook her head. "Believe me, that's what I've been asking myself everyday, trying to see if I missed something. She just attended her classes as usual, went to violin practice, and then one day—s-she never came home!" Mrs. Garton covered her mouth and tried to stifle her cries as tears ran down her face.

"Where is your husband, Mrs. Garton?" Gideon asked kindly. It was always better if both adults could be there, as a sort of comfort for the other.

"Oh, he's at work right now," she answered. "E-ever since we learned about Heather, he's been working all the time, never really coming home. I've got my twins to help me, but they're at football practice right now, and I have to pick them up soon."

"If you don't mind, we can set your family up with some counseling to help you through this, Mrs. Garton," Gideon offered. The woman thought about it for a moment, then nodded.

"Since there hasn't been anything unordinary that she's done, could you just tell us a little more about your daughter, such as her hobbies, any clubs she's involved in, any heated arguments with classmates?" Hotch continued, eager to receive the information they needed so they could meet up with the rest of the group and work towards saving Ashley, for they were pressed for time.

* * *

"This makes absolutely no sense!" Morgan sighed in frustration. They had been spending the past couple hours going over the new information that each team had gathered, trying to find any relationships between the three girls. While Hotch and Gideon had been interviewing Heather's mom, he and JJ had gone to see Sharon's parents, and Emily and Reid went with Natalie to ask Ashley's parents the same questions.

Once they all returned from gathering information they all presented what they found and were currently doing their best to find any similarities. They were few, mainly consisting of that they were all girls, were locals, got good grades, were both sophomores, and were involved in the university service club. Other than that, there were just differences.

Heather was in the orchestra as a violin player, had one steady boyfriend for the past two years, short with long, blonde hair, was pursuing a degree in marketing, and worked at the local credit union. Sharon wasn't involved in any sports, was the president of the debate team, had a total of three boyfriends over the past two years, medium-build with short, brown hair, was working towards a law degree, and worked in retail at the closest mall. Ashley was on the volleyball team, didn't have a boyfriend, tall with red hair, was pursuing a degree in health sciences, and worked on-campus in the bookstore. Only Sharon and Heather knew each other before coming to college, while Ashley and Heather had the same biology class. All three of them knew each other though, since they were all in the same Freshman Academy last year, and reportedly saw each other often.

"What could tie all these girls together?" he wondered aloud. Emily had to admit that it was a pretty short list.

"All that we have to go off of is the service club," Gideon announced solemnly. "We might as well start there."

* * *

**There you go! I am so sorry for it being brief, but I really think getting SOMETHING out there is more important, and I know you all hate me for taking so long, but I will work my hardest to finish this up because taking this long on the story is ridiculous.**

**I must admit I've having a little trouble with the little details of the story, which is part of the reason why updates are taking longer than usual, but I will do my best to continually update this story so I can get it out of the way. This story was sort of one a whim and I didn't plan for it as much, but I have all these other CM fics I want to write (see my profile) and I promised myself that I wouldn't start on those until I had finished this one, so hopefully I'll get this finished soon! Thanks to all of you who have stayed with me!**


	5. Chapter 5: A Possible Lead

**Holy cow this sure has been a while, huh? Well, for those of you fed up with my horrible updating schedule can be assured that there will be no more of that. I'm going to do nothing but update this story until it's done, so expect a lot of alerts from me. I would like to thank you all for your patience and here is the rest of the story. **

* * *

"HSA is the largest service organization on campus and pretty much anyone who's anyone is a member of it. The main office is near the commons area," Natalie explained.

Last night Gideon had decided that Reid and Emily would go back to the college campus and find out as much as they could about the girls through the service club. Luck had been in their favor that Ashley Warren's body hadn't been found yet and the team was counting on the unsub was too frightened to kill her yet. JJ had done a late-night press conference and the police department had put more officers on patrol at Hotch's suggestion that increasing awareness and security would stall the unsub's regular routine.

"What do you think we'll be able to find here?" Emily asked, whispering to Reid. "If it's such a large organization it's going to be difficult to find direct connections to all three of the girls."

"Most service clubs require their members to submit a monthly hour log of all the service that they've done. We can use that list to find out which people the three girls volunteered the most with and where."

Emily chuckled. "In high school maybe, but this is college. They're adults and don't need to report to anyone." They walked through the glass door and walked up to the front desk where a boy and girl were glancing at flyers. The boy looked up at their approach and smiled.

"What can I help you with today? Are you looking for some volunteers? We have more than enough sign-up sheets that you can use."

"We'd like volunteers for information," Emily said, holding out her badge. The boy's dazzling smile faltered and he looked very solemn.

"I figured you would be coming here sooner or later."

Prentiss frowned. "Why is that?"

"Well, as the HSA President I make it a point to know all of the people on my committees, and Heather, Sharon, and Ashley made up one of them."

"If you made this connection why didn't you report it to anyone?" Reid asked in bewilderment.

The boy shrugged. "I didn't think it was important. They were on a Christmas decorating committee last year and there were a lot of other people involved in it."

Emily glanced at Reid who gave her a barely perceptible shrug. She then turned her attention back to the blonde. "What is your name?"

"Andrew Scotts."

"Well, Andrew," Emily said as she sat in one of the plastic chairs, "it seems like you're just the person we wanted to talk to. We need a list of all the people who were on that committee and whatever information you can give us about those people."

* * *

Morgan dialed his cell phone.

"Hello, my name is Garcia and I shall be your waitress today at the Unsub Buffet, may I take your order?" He could hear the smile in her voice and imagined her leaning back in her comfy chair, grinning manically.

"Yeah, I'd like an order of male students or faculty who have taken any technical classes that deal with computers and cross-reference that with the number of people working towards a medical degree." In order to alter the security cameras the unsub would need access and technical knowledge along with their advanced medical prowess. It was a shot in the dark but it was better than nothing.

"An odd combination sweetie, but anything for you." Garcia's fingers darted over the keyboard and the screens of the many computers that covered her office. The many potential names were reflected in her glasses as they flashed across the screen.

"Here you go . . . three names come up, which is quite surprising considering the unusual request. There is a professor by the name of Dr. Mark Akson, a senior named Andrew Scotts, and a freshman named Paul Richardson. I'm faxing their information over to your doorstep now."

Morgan grinned. "Delicious. Best service anywhere."

Garcia gasped mockingly. "Don't I even get a tip?" she asked.

"Of course, beautiful." Morgan proceeded to make obscene kissing noises into the phone, met in response by Garcia's delighted and uncontrollable giggles.

"Come back any time sugar. Your computer waitress is on call 24/7."

The dark-skinned profiler chuckled to himself as he stood in front of the fax machine. No matter how disturbing the cases were, Garcia's unique phone conversations always brightened his day. And by the look of these murders, he needed all the brightening he could get.

"Did Garcia find anything?" JJ walked into the office they had been given carrying two cups of coffee.

"Thanks. Yeah, she found three names." Morgan placed the papers on the table in three piles. "Dr. Mark Akson, one of the pre-med professors, and two students—Paul Richardson, a freshman, and Andrew Scotts, a senior."

"I don't think the freshman is a likely suspect," JJ said. She flipped through Paul's file. "The unsub would need a secluded area to hold the girls for three days, and then he would need access to all the proper equipment to take out their brains. And what freshman would have the medical know-how to do that?"

"And since he's from out of state," (Morgan pointed at Paul's home address) "he's not comfortable enough with his surroundings to do something this daring." Morgan's phone rang and he pushed a button for it to be on speakerphone.

"What's up?"

"Apparently all three girls were on this Christmas decorating committee last year through the service club, and Andrew's been able to give us a few names—"

"Did you say Andrew?" JJ asked, leaning in closer to the phone.

"Uh, yeah. He's the HSA President." Morgan could easily see Reid's confused expression.

"Is it Andrew Scotts?"

"Yeah, that's his name. How did you—"

The office door flew open and the elder profilers rushed in looking grim.

"They've found Ashley's body."


	6. Chapter 6: Another Dead End

"Two blocks away from the usual dumpsite." Morgan sighed. "I was hoping we wouldn't find her like this." He and JJ stood ten feet away from the covered body, near a neighborhood park.

"Really is a tragedy." Officer Dickerson walked towards the pair, rubbing his neck. "She was found by a woman walking her dog early in the morning. We've been able to positively ID the body, and now all

that's left is to inform the parents."

"Do you want any assistance?" JJ said.

Dickerson sighed. "Nah, though I appreciate the offer."

"Shouldn't the pressure have forced him to be more cautious and lengthen the time he spends with his victims?" JJ asked, turning away from the body.

"Normally it would have, but now we've got an even bigger problem."

"Bigger problem?"

"Depositing the body in the normal timeframe with this much pressure can mean one of two things." Morgan held up two fingers and put them down as he counted them off. "One—he's not afraid of being caught. He'll just keep killing until he's stopped. Two—he has a mission he needs to complete. This is the most dangerous reason, because it means he's prepared to do whatever it takes to finish it."

* * *

"How's he doing?"

"Not good." Reid folded his arms and frowned. "He didn't protest that much when he was arrested and seemed rather shocked at the accusation."

"Has he said anything?" Hotch asked. Emily shook her head.

"All he's done is stare at his hands and look terrified."

Gideon nodded. "I'll go talk to him." As he entered the room Hotch, Emily, and Reid moved closer to the two-way mirror.

"Listen—I don't know why you've brought me here but I didn't do anything!"

"I'm sure you didn't, Andrew," Gideon began. "I just want to talk."

"Yeah, right!" The blonde looked around nervously. "You don't think I know what you do? I've watched enough crime shows dude, and you've got your buddies on the other side of that glass," (he jerked his head in the other's profilers' position) "watching and listening to my every move! You're going to try and be my friend when all you want is a confession!"

"All I want is to know the truth," Gideon said calmly.

"Yeah? Well the truth is I didn't do it!"

"You knew all the girls in their freshman year, and you are pursuing a medical degree. You also took some technical classes."

Andrew stared at him incredulously. "And _what_ does that have to do with anything?!"

"You've heard about the cases, right? How each girl's brains were surgically removed?" Andrew paled as Gideon delicately placed the photos in front of him, showing the bloody holes in their heads. "Not really your typical murder. Someone would need a good understanding of the human anatomy to do that."

"But I'm working to become a pediatrician!" Andrew protested. "What does that have to do with brains?"

"You still would have taken the basic classes, correct? It wouldn't matter what type of field you were going into. And as for the other classes, whoever took the girls would have known how to disrupt the security systems to snatch the victims."

"I'm a guy—I like computers! So what? Listen," (Andrew leaned in closer to Gideon) "I'm the HSA President! You have no _idea_ what it took to get to this position for the second year running! If word gets out that I'm a suspect for two murders—"

"Three."

Andrew frowned and cocked his head quizzically. "What do you mean three? Isn't Ashley . . . "

"Dead." The senior gaped at the profiler in shock.

"Wh-what?"

"They found her body this morning. Just like the others."

"And you still think I did this?" Gideon shrugged.

"If you'll excuse me." He stood up and walked towards the door.

"I swear it isn't me!" Andrew's shrill voice followed Gideon out the door. "I'm not a murderer!"

"What do you think?" Hotch asked as Gideon turned around to look through the mirror. Andrew whimpered and hung his head on the other side of the glass.

"It's not him," Gideon sighed. "He doesn't have the stomach to handle something like that and isn't as emotionally collected as the unsub would have to be."

"So it's back to where we started?" Emily asked. She looked rather fearful.

"We still have Dr. Akson though," Reid pointed out.

Hotch shook his head. "It's no good, he was out of state for a conference during the first murder. It's a solid alibi."

"At any rate we need to move fast," Gideon said. "The pressure we're putting on him is undoubtedly rushing him and he's need driven to complete whatever it is he needs these girls for. There's a good chance he will try to capture his next victim today."


	7. Chapter 7: The Next Victim

That night Prentiss and Natalie sat together at the conference table in front of the careful arrangement of photos of the victims. Natalie was busy doing homework, and Emily perused the case files intently, bent on finding a breakthrough in the connections the girls had together. Ever since their arrival, Prentiss had insisted on her sister staying with her and so Natalie had moved some of her stuff into Emily's hotel room.

Natalie sighed and slammed her book down angrily. "I'm going to get some coffee," she announced unenthusiastically.

Prentiss glanced up from the files she was inspecting and offered a quiet, "Okay," before returning to her work.

Natalie trudged to the coffee room in the vacant police station. Other than the BAU team and herself, there was only a handful of policemen left, because most were patrolling the campus. What few were left were on the opposite side, fervently trying to help the BAU in any way they could, or trying to solve it first. All classes had been cancelled for the day and people were encouraged to stay in large groups whenever possible.

* * *

"Garcia, see if there is anything connecting all the girls in some academic club, or anything else that gives them recognition for their grades," Reid suggested to the computer's speaker. He, Hotch, Gideon, JJ, and Morgan were in one of the case rooms with Officer Dickerson, desperately searching for further information that linked the three girls together.

With the service connection turning out to be a bust, they decided to take a more practical approach. Maybe the connection was easier than they thought. Officer Dickerson's walkie-talkie statically came to life, causing him to angrily excuse himself from the room.

"Let's see," Garcia thought aloud carefully as she scanned the files that popped open on her screen. They were communicating via computer video feed, and they could do nothing but sit and watch her. "Got something!" she announced happily. "All right, all three girls show up as potential candidates for a prestigious scholarship: Heather Garton, Sharon Karn, and Ashley Warren." She drew a sharp intake of breath and everyone gave their undivided attention to the screen.

* * *

Natalie entered through the door, spied the coffee machine, and began preparing a cup for herself.

* * *

"What is it?" Gideon asked delicately.

"Number five on the list is a student by the name of David Jefferdson." She paused as she clicked expertly and waited for a new file to open, and she began to read quickly, "He's a white male, has a job at a Best Buy . . . and is working on his degree in practical medicine."

* * *

The coffee was almost heated to the desirable temperature as Natalie tapped her foot impatiently and she sighed in frustration. She just _had_ to know something! Three of her friends were just murdered, and her sister's team was doing everything they could to find the murderer. There had to be something she was forgetting. If only she could think about what would help.

* * *

The tension in the room was visible, all too afraid to hope they found the unsub.

"Garcia, who is number four?" Hotch inquired slowly.

For a second she couldn't say anything, but then muttered an almost inaudible, "Natalie Prentiss."

* * *

The buzzer went off and Natalie happily grasped the coffee pot by the handle and took it out when a white cloth dashed out from behind her, smothering her mouth and nose.

The pot dropped to the floor with a crash as both arms flew up to wrestle free from the hands that held her back, and she kicked at the cabinet in front of her, hoping to cause as much noise as possible. Despite her efforts, she slumped into unconsciousness a few seconds later.

David swore under his breath as he dragged Natalie out the back door, almost dropping her in the process.

He was almost finished.

* * *

All four men snapped glances at each other before scrambling out the door, each drawing out their guns.

"Where's Natalie?" Morgan demanded when they reached the conference table. It took Emily a second to respond, having been awoken out of her deep concentration.

"She went to get some coffee a little bit ago. Why?" she added, eying the gun Morgan held out in front of himself. All the men stared at each other fearfully before sprinting to the coffee room.

Still confused, Prentiss jumped up to join them, unsure about what this was about. _Natalie couldn't possibly be the unsub. There was no way._

Morgan surveyed the room with his gun, taking note of everything and looking for the slightest chance of danger. "All clear," he announced solemnly to the apprehensive group of people standing behind him.

Prentiss pushed her way through and gasped at what she saw on the ground. The coffee pot was strewn about the floor, its contents leaching into the carpet, and the coffee machine was turned over on its side. Clearly there had been a struggle. She tried to say something, but the words could not find their way past the lump in her throat.

Gideon peered at her sadly then he examined the room, looking for anything that might tell them about their unsub. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a latex glove. He bent over to pick up a white cloth that lay discarded on the floor and sniffed it.

"Chloroform." At this the team's focus snapped over to Gideon.

"So that's how David got his victims," Morgan said slowly. He stood behind Gideon and put out his hands at his side. "He stalks them, looking for a time when they're alone, then comes up behind them and smothers them with an anesthetic, so that he can easily take them away without much resistance."

Gideon opened the exit door behind Morgan and abruptly yanked it open, glancing out into the parking lot. "Skid marks," he stated. "He's so determined to finish what he started that he got careless."

"He also wasn't able to control the situation," Reid continued, "He was forced to abduct his last victim at a police station and had to do it fast. It was a very dangerous risk."

"And the fact that he's gotten away with it no doubt has boosted his confidence and assurance that he's always one step ahead of us," Hotch said.

Officer Dickerson stormed in. "That anonymous tip squad A-7 was checking into was a bust. The occupant of the house was an elderly woman in her late 80's." Noticing the broken coffee pot and pained expressions, he cleared his throat uncomfortably. "What happened?"

"David must have called in that tip, just to lure away as many officers as he could," Hotch realized somberly.

"The last college student has been kidnapped," Gideon exasperatedly informed the officer. "But now we know who the unsub is."

Emily let out an involuntary sob and Morgan stepped forward to place his arms around her. "We'll find her. I promise."

Gideon placed an arm on her shoulder. "Morgan's right. Now that we know who he is it shouldn't be too hard to figure out where he's taking her."

Prentiss nodded and took a deep breath before composing herself. Morgan smiled and gave her another hug before leaving the room. Everyone else followed suit until there was just Hotch and Emily in the room.

"Prentiss," Hotch began slowly, "I know how much you want to find your sister, but I think it's best if—"

"No!" She stared at Hotch in shock. "With all due respect sir, I'm going to help you find David and I am going to be there for my sister! There's nothing you can do to stop me." Hotch frowned and stared at her for a few seconds.

"Fine," he sighed. "But you have to promise me that when you come you'll do whatever I say."

Emily nodded. "I promise."


End file.
